SERIAN, Sept 24 — The former editor of Utusan Borneo, Edwin Jemat Nangkai, 70, was presented with a donation from the Kasih@Hawana Fund initiative today as part of its efforts to assist media practitioners facing hardship in Sarawak.
Fondly known as Cikgu, he said the donation will help ease his family’s burden, as an accident in 2016 left him partially paralysed.
“I would like to say a thousand thanks to the Minister of Communications and Digital Fahmi Fadzil, who is also responsible for this initiative. I am touched because someone ‘saw’ my story,” Edwin Jemat said tearfully.
He was speaking to the press after receiving the donation from the 2023 National Journalists Day (Hawana) Secretariat at his residence earlier today.
The retired teacher said he tried to apply for assistance for Persons With Disabilities (PwD) from the Department of Social Welfare (JKM), but was rejected because he is a pensioner.
“After the motorcycle accident in 2016, I tried to register as a PWD, but the JKM officer told my wife that I was not eligible. I could not even get the Kenyalang Gold Card for senior citizens in the state,” said the father of three.
Edwin Jemat’s family had received aid from the Kuching Association of Freelance Journalists (Pewarta) during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I hope the state government can channel better assistance to those in need, like me. A wife who looks after someone in my condition should be eligible for an allowance,” he said.
Edwin Jemat, whose hobby is writing, ventured into journalism in the 1990s and has been a part-time reporter with the Sarawak Tribune (now known as New Sarawak Tribune) and The Borneo Post.
“When I was a discipline teacher in school, I used to send articles to the local newspapers, and most of them were on discipline and sports.
“If I were not paralysed and could hold a pen, I would write my life story. Some drums are not being heard well… but some are heard,” he said.
Edwin Jemat is the third recipient of donations under the Kasih@Hawana Fund in Sarawak.
The Kasih@Hawana Fund was established in conjunction with Hawana 2023, aimed at assisting existing and former media practitioners as well as veteran journalists who need a helping hand.
It is an initiative of the Communications and Digital Ministry implemented through the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) as a continuous effort to help members of the media fraternity who are facing difficulties and struggling with life’s challenges.
— Bernama
